Madden NFL 25 Wiki Guide

End-Game

Strategy is more important in the final 5 minutes of each half, and especially more important in the final two minutes of the game, than in other situations. Games have been won or lost depending on the coaches' decisions and the players' mistakes during those critical seconds before the final gun.

If you are in the lead, then your mission is to burn time off the clock. Timeouts only serve to freeze the clock, so don't bother calling any.

Remember that the clock only runs after a play if someone actually had control of the ball beforehand. That means that incomplete passes and runs out of bounds will freeze the clock and buy the defense a few precious seconds. In order to milk the clock, only call running plays that go in the opposite direction of the hash marks, or go right up the middle. That is, if you're on the left harsh mark, run right. If you're on the right, go left. This gives you the most amount of room, and should help you avoid running out of bounds.

After a play is over, quickly select your next play, and just sit there on the line of scrimmage until the play clock reads 1 second. Defensive offsides penalties are your best friends, since those will run the clock and reset the play clock in the process.

If the clock stops for some reason, such as a timeout or you ran out of bounds, just select the next play like normal. Remember, avoid passes unless it's 3rd down and at least 5 to go: it’s better to only gain a yard or two and burn some time (or force the opposition to use a timeout) than risk an incomplete pass, which gives the defense time to get organized and their offense a bit more time to make a comeback.

If it's 4th down, don't hesitate to kick. Throw your fakes out the window, and kick a field goal when you’re within range. If you’re out of range, punt as close to the enemy's goal line as you can. A QB sneak isn't a bad idea if it's 4th and 1, but only if you trust your defense and you're on the opponent's side of the field. You don't want to do anything too risky if you're only ahead by a few points and are fighting to get out of your own half of the field.

Another useful play is in the Special Teams formation. You can select the QB Kneel play, which causes your QB to immediately take a knee when he gets the ball. It results in a 2-yard loss, but it moves the clock along with zero risk of a fumble or an interception.

If you're winning by only 3 points in the 4th quarter, you're hardly out of the woods. A field goal will send the game into overtime, and a touchdown will put you down.

Opponents, especially human opponents, get desperate if they're losing as the clock runs out. They will try mostly passing plays, and most of those will be intended to go medium or deep. Set up Dime and Quarter defenses, which are designed to stop that range of passes. You need to do your best to keep the enemy out of field goal range, which again is about to the 30- or 35-yard line. If you fail in that, you need to be on the highest alert to stop them from getting any farther.

If you're leading by more than 3 points, but less than 7, things get just a smidge easier. With that difference, the enemy is forced to get a touchdown, so they can't settle on a field goal. What that means is you simply have to stop them before getting to the goal line, which you should be doing anyway. Just remember that they'll go for yardage on their fourth down, and you'll have to be ready for anything.

If you're up by at least 4 and there's only time for one more play, and the enemy is a rather large distance away from the goal line, then you need to invent your own defensive play. Go to Quarter, and pick the play called Prevent. This sends all eight of the backs deep to prevent any touchdown, but you can do two better. First, send all your backs back in a lax coverage. Second, take manual control of a guy and send him all the way back into the end zone before the play commences. Leave him there; he's the absolute last line of defense when the offense does their play. While this leaves an area or person open to be hit with a pass, you can immediately rush whoever has the ball to flatten him. That one guy in the end zone serves as the mop-up crew, ready to floor whatever fool happens to try to score, no matter where on the field they are.

Finally, if you're on defense and you're up by more than touchdown with under a few minutes, you still need to be alert. Chances are you've got the game in your hands, but comebacks aren't extremely rare. Try to prevent touchdowns as normal, mix up your defensive coverages (unless your opponent is being predictable), and stay in lax coverage. If you do give up a touchdown but you're still ahead, the opponent will likely try an onside kick. Plan for it by calling the "Onside Recover" play during the kickoff.

Mistakes are bad, very bad. Chucking a ball into the hands of a defender will seal your coffin, as will a fumble that turns over to the guys in the other shirts.

You need to run plays that you're very comfortable with. Deep passes are preferred, although running the same play over and over will fail eventually, because the enemy will learn your actions. Running plays are safe but won’t get you the yardage you need. However, if you’re close to the enemy’s red zone, you may want to throw in an occasional running play to mix things up.

Pick a play you're comfortable with and run it, issuing a No Huddle command every time the play stops. Hold Y (360) or Triangle (PS3) to repeat the same play immediately, though you can always audible out of it. Conversely, you can hold B (360) or Circle (PS3) to call a No Huddle Spike, so your quarterback will immediately spike the ball when they get lined up on the line of scrimmage. It'll cost you a down, but at least the clock will stop.

Running out of bounds will freeze the clock as well, so do that as often as you can. Even if you think you can gain an extra yard or two by running forward, break to the sideline unless that extra yard will get you in the end zone. You need to save every precious second you can.

Call timeouts if you need to, but try not to unless you have no choice. That is, save them up for when you do need them, rather than calling them just because you can.

Defensive penalties are your best friends. Football games cannot end on a defensive penalty. If you throw the ball, and there's 0:00 on the clock, but the defense gets called for pass interference, you'll get to run another play. Also, you'll get to run the point-after attempt after you score a touchdown, whether or not there's time remaining on the clock.

Remember, you need to get your plays off as quickly as possible. The other advantage to hurrying is that the defense will tire, and they may not even be in a set position when you snap it. That will give you a slight advantage.

If all else is failing, use a Hail Mary. This will send all your receivers as deep as they can. Probably if you're in a situation where you're calling it, the opponent is going to be running a prevent defense to stop it. But you never know; you might get lucky.

This is the worst situation to be in. The offense controls the clock, and they will do so without mercy. They will only attempt running plays, so you can set your defense accordingly. Human players are less predictable, of course, and may try to run up the score.

What you need here is an interception or fumble recovery. Try your hardest not to cause a penalty, since that will keep the game clock running if it already is, and reset the play clock either way.

This is the time to burn your timeouts if you have them. Use them whenever you can.